A. Register a domain name with domain registrar :

You have to register your selected domain name with one of the ICANN approved registrars. You can register your domain for one year and after one year if you wish to continue then you have to register that it again. Your hosting provider can register your domain on behalf of you. You have to choose a suitable available domain name. To register a domain you have to provide the following information:

B. Domain name owner credentials (name, company name, address, phone, email address etc.)
1. Administrative contact credentials
2.Technical contact credentials
3.Domain Name System (DNS) server details
Your hosting provider provides the DNS server. The DNS server should have entries of the domain name as explained in the next section. At least a primary (e.g. ns1.yourdomainname.com) and a secondary (e.g. ns2.yourdomainname.com) name server addresses are required.
Now we discuss about DNS server setup in details:

C. Domain Setup On DNS Server:
After registering your domain you have to setup your domain on the DNS server. If you don’t completely setup your domain then your domain name will not work. The job of a A DNS server is to trace a domain name to IP address(es) of the web server and mail server so that a user can easily connect to the webserver or mail server using by typing the domain name in the browser. A forward lookup zone is created for the domain name in the DNS server. Start of authority (SOA), Name server (NS), Hostname (A), Canonical Names (CNAME) and Mail eXchange (MX) entries are added to the forward lookup zone as shown below for a domain “foodomain.com” with name servers “ns1.dnsserver.com” and “ns1.dnsserver.com”.

Start Of Authority Record:
SOA remove ‘is’ for Start Of Authority. It is very essential because it denotes the official DNS record for the domain name. There can be only one SOA record for every domain in a zone file.
@ IN SOA ns1.dnsserver.com. abc.dnsserver.com. (
20041014 ; serial number
900 ; refresh
600 ; retry
86400 ; expire
3600 ) ; default TTL

Address Record Entry: It is added to forward look up zone of the domain and its associated IP address of web server. It is also used for handling request on the domain.
foodomain.com IN A 123.2.33.45.
foodomain.com IN A 123.2.33.46.

Alias Entry:
CNAME stands for canonical name. The canonical name record maps an alias to the real name. Keep in mind that an alias for www is setup as a CNAME, so that requests to www.yourdomainname.com is sent to the same website that handles the requests for yourdomainname.com.
www IN CNAME abcdomain.com.

Name Server Record:
NS stands Name Server. The NS record is utilized to explain the name servers for the domain. It may seem unessential to keep a record of the name server in the DNS entry. The reason is that the name server is previously present in the registrar records, where the search for the domain starts. This record is required, in any case, anyone want to know the name servers for this domain. The name server records are mapped to CNAME entries (ns1 and ns2 in the example below).
abcdomain.com IN NS ns1.dnsserver.com.
abcdomain.com IN NS ns2.dnsserver.com.

Mail Exchanger (MX) Setup:
If you want to setup your email server to manage the domain mail account then you have to configure a mail exchanger. Such as: an email address like donna@abcdomain.com will need a domain setup to solve the mail server for abddomain.com. The setup is common to the CNAME setup but with MX records. There can be various MX records (e.g. for backup mail servers).
abcdomain.com IN MX 10 mail.abcdomain.com

Note: You can check the DNS setup of the domain with DNSReport.com. This site permits you to get a detailed report of any DNS misconfiguration and possible solutions.

C. Configuring Web Server For Domain:
After you setup the DNS server you have to send the request for the domain to the corresponding IP address, and the work of the web server begins. The web server requires to be setup properly to manage the request for the domain based on either the IP address or the host header entry. Host headers are normally utilized by web servers to host multiple domains on one IP address.

Apache Web Server :
In case of Apache web server, you have to configure your subdomain by virtual host entries in httpd.conf. The process is as follows:
Listen 80
NameVirtualHost *

<VirtualHost *>
ServerName www.yourdomainname.com
DocumentRoot /home/httpd/htdocs/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *>
ServerName yourdomainname.com
DocumentRoot /home/httpd/htdocs/
</VirtualHost>

* What is Domain name?
All domain names are formed by the rules and regulations of DNS. DNS stands for Domain Name System. Domain names are used to identify one or more IP addresses and also identify a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control in the Internet.

* What are the advantages of own domain?
1. It would be very easy to find out. Like : yourdomain.com is more easy to remember than yourdomain.com/abc-church
2. You get a more professional image in the market with it.
3. You can utilize various Email “aliases”. Every Email message affirms your name, eg sales@yourdomain.com, manager@yourdomain.com, support@yourdomain.com
4. If you want to change your hosting provider, remove ‘in that case’ you can do that very easily with your own domain.
5. Your website would be search engine friendly.
6. You would get good rank in search engine listings.

* What is Domain extensions?
The domain extensions are the suffix, which are located at the end of a web address. Such as .com or .net.

*How to set up up a domain name for a website?
There are mainly three steps to setting up a domain for your website.
A. You have to register a suitable domain name with a domain registrar.
B. Setting up the domain name entry in a DNS server.
C. Configuring the web server to listen to the requests for the domain name.

When you prepared to launch your website, you want to take two crucial decisions; what will be your domain name and where to host a new website.

When a web address (ex. http://www.abc.com) type into the browser, the server will look for a page called index. This page can have different extensions such as. htm,. html, or. shtml and displayed when calling the URL. The other site pages are called by including the URL followed by “/” and the name of the page: http://www.abc.com/xyz.shtml.

Choosing a good domain name is something of the uttermost importance. Not only explain to your prospects what your business, but also play an important role in their brand image. A good domain name is one that can be recalled immediately and connecting with something that visitors are concerned. A great domain name is one that can be imagined by a potential visitor looking for something in particular. It is also ideal domain name contains your primary key phrase.

Here are some basic guidelines that will help you choose a great domain name:

1.Choose a name that contains your most important keyword phrase.
2.The name should be catchy and easy to remember
3.Avoid using hyphens or abbreviations that obstructs the visitors to remember the domain name.
4.Try to make it as short as possible.
5.Choose prime name that will grow with your business

Although there are many new domain extensions available, but com is still the best choice. There are many companies online that allow you to register a domain name. Enom, Namecheap, Eurodns, are the reputable names, but there are many other cheaper options also available. You will want to investigate on their own and find a record that meets your needs.

If you are just beginning, you may want to choose a hosting company before you register your domain name, since many companies will register the domain name behalf of you when you open an account with them. A web host is a company that provides server space for your website. This includes all web pages, graphics, scripts and files. When your web address is typed into a browser, your web host is contacted to locate and display the requested page.

However there is old war between professional paid hosting versus free hosting. The fact is not all web hosts are equal. There are a number of free services available online. However, if you are designing a website for business, should NEVER host your website on a free service.

To establish quality, you must be willing to invest a good amount of money in your own domain name and web hosting in a professional manner. The Web sites hosted on free servers are not taken seriously and experience substantial losses in business. Your visitors may feel that if you do not have your own domain, may not be a company with credibility. Therefore, they take their business elsewhere. Not only is professional credibility. Many search engines will not index a site hosted on a free server. If you are a serious person in regard to its business and has sincere desire to succeed, having your own domain and professional hosting is essential.